Priyadarshan, the badshah of illogical comedies trying art
house cinema? I was shocked too, but Priyadarshan has made
many path breaking, award worthy creations which is just overshadowed
by the comedy blockbusters he churned up the past few years.
But will his magic still work? It does! and how?

The
only word which does succeed to come out of your mouth
after seeing this masterpiece is 'WOW'. and I should
thank Priyadarshan as I saw this movie on my birthday,
what a birthday present he has blessed me with! "The
best one ever!"

It is a period movie set in the pre independence era
in a small town of Kanchivaram in Tamil nadu, the protagonist
Prakash Raj works as a Vengadam, the best silk weaver
in the town. He pledges that he would provide a silk
saree for his daughter when she is getting married,
which becomes the talk of the town as a weaver simply
can't afford such a humongous price. He does save up
some money but his brother-in-law ruins his plans, so
to attain the inevitable he starts stealing a single
strand of silk from the workplace, every single day
and secretly weaves a saree for his daughter for 19
long years. He is involved in communism and heads a
strike against his owner who gives paltry amount to
the weavers, which comes as a deterrent to his daughter's
marriage, which is drawing near. As the day comes close,
he has to finish the silk saree on time. What will Vengadam
do now? Find out for yourself.

The screenplay is so artfully done, the movie goes back and
forth the time line with consummate ease. The editing is superlative.
The street-play in the second half looked forced and the movie
could have been better without it. The cinematography by Thiru
is of international standards, the color tone gives the right
background palate for Priyadarshan-the artist to work on.
And the production design by Sabu Cyril just takes this art
work to epic proportions.

M.G.Sreekumar the musician sways us with his titling music,
especially the lori which is sung when Prakash Raj and Shreya
Reddy's daughter is born, which is reprised to melancholy
effect during the tragic finale.

The acting is of high order, leading the spectacular array
of performance is the lead man of the story Prakash raj, whose
portrayal of a Vengadam can only be termed as spectacular
if not sensational. But such a great actor to whom all the
emotions in the book comes so naturally is still having some
trouble with getting his laugh right, his laugh always looks
so forced and unnatural. Shreya Reddy as Vengadam's innocent
wife has given a blinder of a performance. She did impress
in her villainous role in Thimiru but she bowls everyone in
the audience over by a performance which could even fetch
her a national award. All the other actors do their job convincingly.

Overall, this movie is a work of art, a beautiful
sonnet, a beautiful painting.